


Chapter Two: Diego

by obscurityofphylum



Series: Extra Ordinary: My Life as Number Seven [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Abuse, Poor Diego, Reginald Hargreeves’ A+ Parenting, Vanya’s book
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:47:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25653115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obscurityofphylum/pseuds/obscurityofphylum
Summary: Diego is the second "oldest" of us. He has the ability to curve knives anywhere he wants them to go, as well as holding his breath indefinitely.Unfortunately, most of his abilities are plagued by his rage.
Series: Extra Ordinary: My Life as Number Seven [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800355
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79





	Chapter Two: Diego

_Diego is the second "oldest" of us. He has the ability to curve knives anywhere he wants them to go, as well as holding his breath indefinitely._

_Unfortunately, most of his abilities are plagued by his rage._

_He's had anger issues for as long as I can remember; the ungodly tantrums when we were younger only evolved into screaming matches with our father as he got older._

_He always had a soft spot for Klaus and Ben, just like Allison. I think they both had a subsconscious need to protect Four and Six, and I think Six's death destroyed what was left of their attachment to our family._

_Diego was a firecracker from the beginning. He could be kind and humorous when he wanted to be, but he was the first to see through our father's parenting and realize that it was abuse. I think that realization broke him from a young age, and robbed him of any innocence he might've had._

_As a toddler, he'd throw things (how Father discovered his powers) and kick our nannies until they were forced to call Reginald to try and calm him. Diego's temper was unmatched, and I can remember many a day trying to soothe sweet, sensitive Ben crying from fear, because of the way Diego would scream like a banshee as the nannies tried to stop him from hitting or biting. He was just unhappy most, (if not all) of the time._

_When Grace came along, he attached himself to her. She wasn't scared or challenged by his temper. If anything, it seemed like Reginald had programmed her to understand. I think the only thing Diego truly sees as a positive about Reginald is that he created Grace, Diego's only comfort in our dreary house._

_Sure, we all loved Grace. But Diego had imprinted on her immediately, and followed her around like a little duckling for most of our years at the academy._

_She helped him with his stutter, something that had always tormented him from a young age. When he was nervous or generally upset, his mouth would trip over his words and he'd stumble over his sentences. Grace never got annoyed by it like Reginald did, instead showing compassion._

_Diego was always the first one to confront Reginald over unfair treatment. He refused to back down, and always held his ground even when our father brought out the cane or denied him dinner._

_Our father's experiments on Diego were traumatic. Because of his ability to breathe underwater, Father would put him in an immersion tank to test the length of time he could withstand this. I spent so many days holding a stopwatch, silently begging our father to let him out. He would pound on the glass chamber with his fists, suffocating at the water filling his lungs. Mom would sit with him for hours afterwards, rubbing his back and reassuring him as he coughed up water._

_Most of our childhood was split into each of our own emotional responses to the way our father treated us: Luther, becoming a super soldier and adapting to whatever our father threw at him, Allison immersing herself into daydreams of fame, Klaus, lacking emotional response, falling into drugs instead. I tuned out everything with the sound of my violin, and Ben did the same with his books. Five's response to Reginald's treatment was to flee, and I don't blame him. Meanwhile, Diego's escape was his anger._

_He wasn't mad at any of us. He was mad at the way Reginald had dehumanized us down to our very numbers. Him and Luther were very close as small children, but as their ranks and competition grew more and more clear, they split apart._

_Training got more and more difficult for them. I watched from the courtyard where I'd practice violin as they sparred, seemingly forgetting their own love and kinship as soon as the whistle was blown to signal the beginning of the match._

_He was violent. He could easily detach himself from any feelings about the others as soon as it came to training. And unlike Luther, it wasn't because he was trying to obey Father. No, Diego was fueled by pure hatred and spite for most of us._

_But, of course, there was the gentle side to him. The side of Diego that would excitedly wake us all during the night, leading us throughout the city to Griddy's Donut Shop. The side of Diego that would sit beside Grace for hours on end, practicing his reading while she cross-stitched. He's always been soft-hearted, he just does more to hide it._

_Unlike Ben or Klaus, his nightmares wouldn't happen when he was asleep. Instead, his fears haunted him when he was awake. He was horrified at the idea of losing his family, even though he was the most distant._

_His anger and disinterest in teamwork was a facade for his anxiety. Even if Diego never openly admits it, he's terrified of failure. He wants to be the hero. He wants to not only save the day, but also convince himself at the end of the day that he did what was necessary. He doesn't walk away without guilt. Diego's aim wasn't for the spotlight, he just wanted to prove to himself that he was equal to the others, a feat I've failed at my whole life. In trying to solidify his own worth, he distanced himself from everyone and everything most of our teenage years._

_Five's disappearance angered him more than anything, no surprise. Five had left us in that house alone with Reginald, knowing that he was the only one of us with enough reserve and patience to hold us all together. Things just descended downhill from there._

_I think he blames himself for the way Klaus self-destructed in our teens. After Ben died, Klaus went crazy. Diego was the one who'd chase him down and bring him home, barefoot and shivering (best case scenario) or sometimes seizing and unconscious (worst case scenario.) When Dad put Klaus in Shinyview Sanitarium for eleven months, Diego grew even more restless._

_Diego was one of the few to fully watch our family collapse. He watched Klaus spiral into drugs and Allison bury herself in fame and narcissism. But worst of all, he watched Ben die._

_He was the only one who saw first-hand what happened to Ben. He hasn't ever spoken about it._

_Diego left the Academy two weeks after Ben's funeral, with nothing but a duffle bag and a note for Mom. I haven't seen him in eight years. I truly hope that wherever he is, he's happy. He deserves it._


End file.
